Did you know that more than 100,000,000,000 pieces of junk mail are stuffed into the mailboxes of Americans each year? There are a lot of zeros next to that one. Junk mail in the U.S. is actually responsible for one-third of the world's delivered mail. Yes, you read that correctly, junk mail. That's not counting the legitimate bills, bank statements and letters from your email-illiterate aunt. Over 100 million trees meet their maker each year just to produce those annoying little flyers which you more than likely barely glance at before tossing into your recycling pile.

That's assuming you care enough to recycle it. A whopping 44 per cent of the mail ends up sitting unopened in a landfill. If you think that's bad, also consider that the 6.5 million tons of paper used to create junk mail each year results in greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions of 3.7 millions cars. When rainforests aren't being cleared away to make room for biofuel crops, 100 million of their trees are being cut down and used to produce junk mail. All in all, those are some pretty disturbing figures, especially given that junk mail is only second on the irritating scale to a dinner-time phone call from a telemarketer.

Forest Ethics isn't taking the news lightly; they've launched the Do Not Mail campaign - similar to Canada's Red Dot Campaign - involving a petition that will be sent to the government pleading for a national registry similar to the Do Not Call registry (the preventative measure to avoid getting those annoying calls).

Celebrities including Alicia Silverstone, Adrian Grenier, Ed Begley Jr. and Darryl Hannah are lending their support to the initiative and encouraging people to visit the Do Not Mail website to sign the petition. Taking time out of his busy schedule of donning a (organic cotton) red cape and fighting environmental crimes, Grenier says, “Junk mail is more than an annoying waste of time, it’s a waste of our environment. Joining ForestEthics’ Do Not Mail campaign is a great, easy way to stop the waste.”

There's even a place on the site where you can fill out a form to help reduce the amount of junk mail delivered to your home. Hit the jump to visit the Do Not Mail campaign online.

» Do Not Mail